


Digital Companionship

by PanPacificPines



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Giffany redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:09:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4899748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PanPacificPines/pseuds/PanPacificPines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terror comes to Gravity Falls when Soos gets a new video game: Romance Academy 7. However, what might have happened if it hadn't been him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Digital Companionship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little things can lead to enormous changes. Though they'll never know it, Melody is about to change Gravity Falls in a way no one could have forseen.

“The Quantum Weather Butterfly ( Papilio Tempestae ) is an undistinguished yellow color, its outstanding feature is its ability to create weather.  
This presumably began as a survival trait, since even an extremely hungry bird would find itself inconvenienced by a nasty localized tornado ( usually about 6 inches across ). From there it possibly became a secondary sexual characteristic, like the plumage of birds. Look at *me*, the male says, flapping his wings lazily in the canopy of the rain forest. I may be an undistinguished yellow color but in a fortnight’s time, a thousand miles away, Freak Gales Cause Road Chaos.  
This is the butterfly of the storm.  
It flaps its wings.“  
-Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It’s 8:30 AM in Gravity Falls and an Alarm clock app blares to life with an air raid siren which has been specifically designed to be the most annoying sound in the universe.

"Ugh. Five more minutes.” A hand gropes around impatiently over the side table the phone rests on until a sudden clatter signifies the phone landing on the floor. “Or now. Now is also an option.”

Melody rolls groggily out of bed and slides the alarm function off on her phone before picking it up and lurching to the bathroom to make herself presentable for the world of the living. “Why is awake even a thing?” She bemoans, spreading toothpaste on her brush as she fumbled for the MeTube app. The text notifications go unnoticed as she takes in the news from around the world and the most recent viral videos. A few new messages pop up but are drowned out by her morning shower.  
There were 5 unread text messages by the time she’d finished tucking in her white collared work shirt and had started slipping on her shoes when a call snapped her from her morning routine with a start. the screen notification read ‘Meat Cute Gillian’ “Huh? I-I can’t be late, right? -Hey, Jill-pill. What’s up? Is it daylight savings time and I forgot?”  
“Oh, Hey girl, no. I sent you some texts and I hadn’t gotten a response yet.”  
“Sorry, I’m kind of a zombie this morning, what’s up?”  
“Well, you’re workin’ a double today, right?”  
“Well, like a half double. From open until like Seven?”  
“Girl, a half double is a regular shift, but I get you. I was tryin'a get some more hours. I wanted ta catch you before you opened up. Can I take like half your shift today? Doug already said it was cool.”  
“Umm, yeah, okay. I guess since I’m already dressed it’d kinda be sad if I went back to sleep, huh?”  
“You really want me ta answer that question?”  
“That, bad, huh?”  
“Do something with your day, Mel. You leave in a couple weeks right? Go meet a guy or something. They can’t all be 'The Amazing Kevin’, even in this weird town.”  
“Did we have to talk about 'The Amazing Kevin’?” The finger quotes were audible. “The emotional scars are going to last longer than the physical ones. And I dunno, meeting a guy right before I go back home?”  
“I dunno. Go poke a lumberjack. Try some beaver jerky or something. Get some of the weird in so that ain’t your only story from here! Otherwise we won’t get any more tourists and everyone’ll go broke and die. Do you want us to die when you go back home, Mel?”  
“Is beaver jerky a thing?”  
“Girl!”  
“Okay, okay. Thanks, Gillian. I guess I should do some of the touristy stuff around here while I still can.”  
“Good. Lumberjacks. Jerky. Weirdness. Don’t let us die, Mel!”  
“See you around three?”  
“You better. I ain’t try'na takin’ your whole shift.”

Melody said her goodbyes and changed out of the white collared shirt and exchanged it with an orange tank top since nobody wants to walk around in their work clothes all day. As she opened the door to greet the day officially a brochure flitted down from on top of the door knob.  
“Huh? Mystery Shack? Might as well.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Finding the shack had been surprisingly easy, given the quality of the map on the brochure. It looked like it’d been drawn by a very imaginative twelve year old with spacial recognition problems; and also crayons. “Hahah, 'Thar be gnomes here’? Okay, this place is already worth the price of admission if I get to meet the kid that made this thing.” The signs pointing in the direction of the shack every hundred or so yards were a pretty good indication that she was still going in the right direction despite the mile markers on them probably not being correct.  
Once she crested the last hill between her and the shack a tour bus was clearly visible parked in the dirt lot next to the log cabin. She managed to insert herself into the group pretty seamlessly. The old woman in a blue dress that made her think of little house on the prairie smiled sweetly to her.  
“Howdy, sweetie, my name’s Agnes. Have you come to join us on the tour?”  
“Melody, nice to meet you, Ma'am. Yeah, I think so. I’ve actually been living with a friend for the summer and why not get in the sights before going back home?”  
“Oh, that’s nice” The wrinkles parted to form a whistul smile. “Is this a boyfriend, dear?”  
“Oh, oh no. I just- my friend Steph wanted some company while she moved into her new place, and I needed a little break before I start my new teaching job, y'know? So I figured it’d be a good chance to get out of town and see some sights.”  
“And you’re just getting around to it now, hon? Why the wait?”  
“Well I had to get a part time job in town to help pay for my expenses. Most of my money went pretty quickly after…never date a magician, Agnes.”  
“Eww, why would I?”

They chatted amiably, taking a step forward every few seconds as the old man in the suit and Fez at the front entrance collected money from the tour group.  
“Oh, I forgot to ask. How much is it to get in?” Melody asked, suddenly realizing they were only a few people away from the end as she dug through her purse.  
“I reckon it’s only twenty dollars, since you’re with the tour group.” Agnes winked all too obviously.  
Melody and the older woman handed over their entry fees and entered the gift shop of the tourist trap, parting ways to browse around at the cheaply made trinkets. Then, a loud, scratchy throat being obviously cleared drew the attention of the tourists.  
“Thank you for coming, folks! Browse around for a while, everything’s for sale and most of it’s one of a kind! Next tour starts in fifteen minutes! Just remember, the last tour group that didn’t buy anything Neeeeever leeeeeft” The strange looking old man in the fez got a laugh out of most of the crowd, playing up the finger wiggling and spooky voice. For her part, Melody felt drawn in to the charm of the place and its enigmatic owner just like everyone else, though she was aware of it. She suspected that must be part of the charm, allowing yourself to get drawn in on purpose.

“Oh my god! Mister Mystery bobble-heads? That’s so cool!” Melody exclaimed, flicking one of their heads.  
“You think so?” A bored sounding voice asked. It came from a lanky teenager in a green flannel shirt and fur cap, flipping through a magazine and leaning on the counter by the register. She never bothered looking up, though she must have sensed Melody’s interest since she extended a hand, motioning for her to place some money in it. “Mister Pines sells 'em for fifteen bucks on weekends, but he’ll take ten. Don’t tell him I said so though. You want it? Makes a good shelf decoration, or whatever.” The teen blew a gum bubble and popped it.  
“Well I can’t beat a deal like that!” The thing was wrapped in some of the local rag newspaper and deposited in a shopping bag clearly stolen from the local grocery store. “Thanks. This thing will make such a good story starter.”  
“No, prob” -pop- “And I was supposed to charge you fifty cents for the bag, but….eh, effort, have fun on the tour and stuff.”  
“I don’t know if it’s much, but, here. It’s for being a pal” Melody slid over a two for one coupon for Meat Cute. “Us girls gotta look out for each other, right?”  
“Woah, hey. That’s awesome. Thanks.” A genuine smile came to her face. “My Dad’s a lumberjack, yo. Extra meat might actually make the old man cry. This is like a get out of jail free card for me. Pound it, bro-lady.” She held out a first for Melody, and they bumped knuckles.

Feeling good about herself for the day, Melody decided that a half day off was definitely well needed.  
“Huhh, a Hwoman.”  
She barely heard it. It sounded like an aside, not meant to be heard by another person. Looking around, it was hard to tell where it’d come from until a large man in a question mark shirt rose up out of a rack of matching shirts, looking at a girl in green khaki shorts.  
“Your face is good. I’m a Soos.”  
The woman in khaki shorts shrieked and ran screaming from the shop, causing some not inconsiderable property damage on the way out. Despite her reaction Melody couldn’t help but giggle, drawing the question mark man’s attention, so she decided to approach.  
“That’s absolutely adorable!” He looked confused and a little scared at her outburst; an outburst she didn’t even fully realize had come from her until he asked.  
“Did my flirting work?”  
“Actually wasn’t that bad, but I think the element of surprise might not have done it for her. Do…you flirt often?” She started pulling on her pony tail.  
“Not usually. This one time I traded bodies with a pig though, and he seemed to do alright. Didn’t work out so well when we traded back though. Waddles has the moves, 'like Jagger’, yo…”  
“Well, if I were going to flirt with somebody I might start with 'Hi, My name’s Melody, I work down at the mall in the Meat Cute booth if you wanna pay me a visit some time.’” She fought herself to let go of her pony tail to extend a hand for him to shake.  
“Oh, wow. That’s good. Can I stop by for some of those flirting tips?”  
“Y-yeah, of course. I’ll be there after three. Y'know, if you wanted to visit.”  
“Boom. Will do, lady dood.” He pointed a finger gun at her, which made her flush.

She couldn’t help but feel the need to make an exit from the shack, turning once to wave at him before pushing the door open.  
“Dang. I’m gonna miss the tour. Oh well, better than the awkward 'just flirted with you’ standing around I’d have to do for like, what, ten minutes? ….Worth it.”  
Back in the shack Soos found himself waving at her even after she wasn’t looking anymore, that is until Mabel burst out of a nearby barrel full of question mark keychains.  
“Oh my goodness! My hookup senses are tingling! Soos! Were you actually flirting? She’s totally into you!”  
“Woah there, hambone, you think so? I dunno. She just said she’d give me some tips.”  
“I dunno, Soos” Dipper approached, clipboard in hand. “I think Mabel’s right. She usually is about this kind of thing, and she was displaying all the classic symptoms of 'a flirt’.”  
“Well, I’m still not sure, but maybe you guys could come with me?”  
“Yeah! I could always use some more research information on the topic. Y'know, just for like, hypothetical- just like…yeah.”  
“Bluhg! Me and Sir Dorkington will definitely be there.” Mabel jabbed her twin with a light elbow in the side, causing him to drop his clipboard with a drawing of Wendy on it. “I’m telling you, meat girl is definitely all about the Soos man. You’ll see!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“I’m gonna find a replacement for ol’ Goldie. Babysit Soos while I’m gone.” Stan trundled off with an old, malfunctioning gold panning coin thief, leaving the twins and Soos to their own devices. Melody was just finishing up with a customer, handing her a miniature ham on a stick and some change when they spotted her.  
“Okay Sooseroni, you go up to that meat cutie and talk to her!”  
“And I’ll take notes!” Dipper added  
“But, what if I embarrass myself again?” Soos questioned, twiddling his fingers.  
“Ahh, you can’t be any worse at this than Dipper.”  
“Yeah! …wait, whaa?”

Soos waddled nervously over to the stand his new friend worked at and waved at her.  
“Oh! Hey, Soos.” She tugged on her pony tail again. “So, what brings you out here?”  
“Y'know, thought I’d take you up on your uh, your offer. For, like, flirting advice. Heh. yeah.”  
“Oh yeah. Umm…well, I suppose step one would be eye contact. Girls always respond to that.” She offered him a smile, looking into his eyes.  
“Oh, wow. That’s good.” He glanced around momentarily before spotting a likely girl. She had short auburn hair and a sweater which exposed her shoulders.  
“Hey there! I’m not scared of your eyes at all! I’m gonna look at them!” And with that he peeled back his eyelids and toddled after her, screaming “Eye contact!”. Which apparently didn’t work as he had planned as she ran away shrieking like the woman in the shack had done earlier.

“Well, that could have gone better.” Melody chuckled at his antics. “Maybe we should focus on conversation next?”  
“Oh. Yeah. That could work.” He scooted over to a brunette in a green tanktop and denim capris who’d just purchased an extra large ham stick from Melody moments before. “Huh, you know I’ve actually been in a pig’s body.” As most people would after being presented with such a statement, she started backing away from him. “Did you know pigs have a hard time walking backwards? Heh-heh, not you though; not that I’m calling you a pig….Where ya going?”

By this time Melody was having a very hard time holding back her laughter. “Well, that went better. Maybe next time with uhh…a bit more confidence?”  
“Oh, sure!” Searching out his next target, the nearby trendy black light and fake brick plastered store known as 'Edgy on Purpose’ struck his eye as a person of indeterminate gender stood in the entrance. He approached the figure who was dressed from head to toe in black, with fishnet sleeves, black nails and eyeliner as well as lipstick.  
“So. You’re probably a girl…right? Wrooong?….No, I was right the first time….Wrooong?” His queries met with nothing more than a few blinks and eye rolls. Dejected, he slinked over to the children’s play area next to the Meat Cute stand and proceeded to board a train ride meant for kids. He popped in a couple quarters and allowed the ride to calm his nerves a bit. Until a now familiar, melodious giggling sound enters his ears.

“Dude, that’s awesome. On top of everything else you’re a grown man riding a little train like that. You’re totally, like, owning it.”  
“Heh-heh, Well, you know, I’m like, if it’s fun, y'know, do it! Y-ya know?”  
“Exactly! Being an adult is the worst! Skewering meat, remembering to pay bills. I just wanna ride tiny trains all day.”  
“Well, at least you get to work at Meat Cute. Extreme lunch meats are the food of the future.”  
“I feel the same way.” Wonder filled her tone. “Y'know, Soos…if maybe my tips weren’t working out for you, we could try I dunno…” her hand reaches for the comfort of her pony tail once again. “Y'know…maybe we could get together some time, you and me could, like, get dinner some time?”  
“Well, if you like robots for kids you should check out the best restaurant of all time!”  
In unison: “Hoo-Ha Owl’s Pizzamatronic Jamboree!”  
“Whaaat? You’ve heard of Hoo-Ha Owl’s? I loved that place when I was a kid!”  
“Oh, yeah, dood, there’s one right here in this mall. I should show you some time.”  
“I’m Free around eight-thirty?”  
“I’ll be there.”  
“Perfect. I’ll seeya then.” She retrieved two quarters from her pocket and dropped them in Soos’ hand and sauntered out of the mall, her heart filled with hope.  
“Oh…crap, I still have a couple hours left on my shift. Is-is he still there? Dang…I’ll just kinda wait until he’s done…”

Before he could drop the quarters into the train a high pitched squeal filled his ears. It got louder and louder with each passing second. He tried wiggling his pinky in an ear to pop it, but a happy, screaming Mabel tackled his head and started punching him and pulling his hair. He stumbled backwards and out of the tiny train seat, barely recovering his balance as the crazed preteen screamed and battered him. The pair fumbled all the way into the BeeblyBoop’s video game store, snapping a cardboard cutout in half as they collided.

“Hey! Hey!” The overworked store clerk called out “You broke it! Come on, guys! What are you doing!?”  
Dipper dashed in immediately afterwards to try to calm the situation  
“I-I’m so sorry, Ma'am. My sister just got way over excited because our man-child best friend just got his first date so she sort of freaked out.”  
“You’d be surprised how often I hear a story just like that, actually.”  
“Frankly, any number more than none is a surprise.”  
“I told you, you’d be surprised. Also the number is four. Anyway I understand the situation, and we were gonna toss the thing in a week anyway, but I at least have to make some sales to make up for it or my boss’ll freak.”  
“Perfectly reasonable. How much are we talking here?” He dug his wallet out of his pocket.  
“How about a magazine subscription and two used games? You seem like a nice kid. To be honest, Lana Droff is a little bulgy for my liking anyway. I’ll tell my manager one of the regulars got a little handsy with her.”  
“Eww.”  
“Welcome to my world.”  
“Well, okay, thanks. It’s a deal. Hey guys! This one’s on me! Pick out one used game each! …umm…not like, expensive ones though.”

Mabel searched about for a game as Soos compared the virtues of Fighty Hog versus Dr. Punch Head MD. She searches the shelves, but nothing calls to her, until her foot collides with a cardboard box left on the floor.  
“Huh? Learh how to becone a love warrior. With two exclamation points no less. I’m all about becoming a love warrior! Dipper! I’m gonna becone a love warrior!” Mabel waved Romance Academy 7 in the air.  
“Becone? Is that a word?” Dipper made a disgruntled face, hoping it didn’t mean a higher price. “Oh god, I’m becoming Stan!”  
“Ehh, I’m not sure you guys wanna buy that game. This is the third time someone’s brought it back, and there’s a note on it that says 'destroy at all costs’.”  
“LOVE WARRIOR!” Mabel protested.  
“I think that’s a yes. How 'bout you, Soos?”  
“I dunno, dood. I’m stuck between Puma Puncher 3 and Panther Boxer 2. Ehhh..Puma Puncher…Panther Boxer….Puma Puncher…Panther Boxer…”  
“I’ve seen this kind of thing before.” Dipper moaned. “Please tell me they’re both cheap. This could go on for days.” He pleaded.  
“They’re both bargain titles. five bucks a pop.”  
“Oh, thank goodness for Soos’ cheap taste in games. Okay guys! let’s do this!”  
Dipper’s enthusiasm was calmed momentarily by the need to provide his name and e-mail and shipping addresses for the magazine subscription he’d promised the clerk.

Before long however, they’re celebrating their new purchases and Soos’ triumph over his flirting failures with a full on shopping trip. Dipper’s first stop took them to 'Silo and Gentry’, the oddly named book store chain that had just made it up from California a few years back. Soos was kind enough to treat them both to frozen drinks from the coffee shop located just inside the door, and even spotted Dipper some extra cash as thanks for the games. Mabel occupied herself with the fashion magazines for a short time, but before too long realized the extreme danger both her and Soos were in. If she didn’t limit Dipper’s browsing time to a half hour at most, he might actually try to read a novel or three, and then they’d be stuck forever. They’d managed to drag him away from the mystery novels, but it was a close call. Mabel used her skills as a self proclaimed couponing wizard to find a three for two deal on the store’s website so that he could take home all six entries in a new series he’d found. Soos was next, despite his own protests that he’d gotten two new games, but the twins insisted. So he’d visited a salon run by one of his older cousins and picked out some hair products for his Abuela.

Mabel insisted that she stop at two stores since the boys would have to get used to taking girls on shopping trips. Despite knowing it was a scam, they had to admit that it was a good scam. Her first stop was to 'Anachronisticas’ a girl’s fashion store catering only to ideas that’ve been dead for decades. Naturally Mabel fit right in and dug through the bin of 80’s fashion accessories. Her second, and decidedly the biggest stop of the day was to a shop on the opposite end of the mall from where they’d come in called 'Knit Pickers’. Racks and racks of yarn fill the walls of the out of the way nest of grandmothers and hobbyists alike. She’d flexed her wizard muscles again by managing a quadruple coupon deal. Luckily enough the store was actually well prepared for sorcerers like her and actually had super heavy duty eighty gallon bags they called 'the shut-in special’. The bag was even branded with the store name on the side, so apparently this had been an issue in the past. They walked away with more than twenty pounds by weight of wool. The BeeblyBoop’s bag wound up at the bottom, underneath of her treasure trove of yarn since Mabel didn’t even have a computer in the shack.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Man, I could go for some complimentary breadsticks right now.”  
“Heheh. One time I was so hungry I ate the decorational bamboo in a Chinese restaurant..Like a big ol’ pandaa” Soos slapped out a beat on his stomach.  
The date had already gone far better than either of them could have expected. Soon Melody found herself opening up about the last date she’d been on. The Amazing Kevin had made an okay first impression, and even escorted her to the only restaurant in town that could be described as “opulent”. Well, maybe opulent wasn’t the right word. Outright expensive would probably fit better despite the tacky nautical theme, with porthole windows, needless indoor fountains and tridents decorating the walls. The 'turn water into wine’ trick he’d insisted on performing reacted with the bubbly water and ruined her dress. If that wasn’t enough he’d insisted on trick after trick, none of which failed as catastrophically as the 'tablecloth trick’. The resultant bills, as well as the cost of dinner itself (which she hadn’t had the chance to enjoy) had drained her vacation funds.  
“So, long story short, I had to get a part time job to pay the bills and Meat Cute was hiring, so here we are!”  
“That’s a pretty cool story, dawg. I’ve never actually been on a date with a real person before.”  
“A real person? You can’t leave me hanging there.”  
“Weeelll…” Soos rubbed the back of his head, searching her expression to see if he should come clean. “Okay, so I have sort of a depth perception problem…”  
“Yeeeees?” She leaned in.  
“And maybe I sort of…well, I’m probably not the brightest guy…”  
“Come on, Soos. You’re super sweet. What is it?”  
“I kinda sorta went on a date with one of those cardboard cutout ladies from the liquor stores.”  
After they cleaned up the soda she’d spit on the table the rest of the evening was filled with laughter. She immediately agreed to attend Soos’ cousin Reggie’s wedding. After she’d moved back to Portland they made sure to chat at least once a day online.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It’s now just after Dipper and Mabel’s fourteenth birthday. They’ve been back from Gravity falls for about a week now. An absolutely enormous bag of yarn and various other knitting supplies has been a staple of Mabel’s room for over a year. Things come out, and occasionally new things go in. The triple thick plastic makes for perfect storage. Her latest project however calls for a certain crinkly metallic yarn that she could have sworn she’d bought last summer. Balls of fluff bounce off of the floor and walls as she digs through the remnants of every sweater or arts and crafts project for at least as long as she’s owned the bag. Her hand hits something hard and rectangular.  
“Bluh? What do we have -Oh my god! Nostalgiagasm! Oh, god! I remember this! Nine out of ten basement dwellers recommend? Well they must be on to something.”  
Immediately forgetting what she was looking for, Mabel popped the game free of the case and inserted it into the disc tray of her computer.

“Okay, Start, Quit….Shizenhakka? What does the internet say about you? ….Spontaneous combustion? Yeah, okay. Not clicking that. Start. When the cherry petals of magic romance academy are in bloom…Oh, so far I like the sounds of that…Anthyding can hadplen? I like the way you English, game.”  
“Oh, heh, hi there. My name is Giffany.”  
“Well, hi, Giffany, I’m Mabel. Nice to meet you.”


End file.
